Karin L. Burns has spent two decades building and reshaping organizations at the intersection of energy, finance, and technology. Her career blends operating leadership with substantial investment and corporate finance work across energy and climate markets, and it has consistently produced measurable results.

She began in global finance, holding positions at JPMorgan Chase, GE Equity, i2i Capital, Gulf Capital, and Ambata Capital Partners. There she led investment banking, private equity, and advisory transactions across both mature industries and early-stage climate technologies, including a $1.1 billion cross-border sell-side deal and the sale of an electric vehicle company to a Fortune 500 buyer.

That grounding in capital led her into operating roles. As CEO of Build It Green, she returned the organization to profitability for four straight years, doubled revenue, and cut turnover in half. She later expanded her scope at Franklin Energy, running programs across six states before moving into national corporate development and M&A. As Executive Director of Code REDD, she led forest-conservation strategy and launched the Stand for Trees campaign, a platform that brought voluntary carbon credits to the public.

Today Karin leads one of California's largest community choice clean-energy providers, serving nearly 1 million customer accounts across the San Diego region. Under her leadership, annual revenue has climbed from under $350 million to more than $1 billion, and she has championed a plan to reach 100% clean and renewable power by 2035.

Karin earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School and an MBA in International Finance from Edinburgh Business School, and holds a BA from Duke University. She lives in California with her husband and two sons.